Xenoblade Chronicles X: A Side Story
by Sliced Pickles
Summary: Warning: Heavy Spoilers for XCX. A chapter story based in the world of the Xenoblade Chronicles X. Heavily OC-based. A member of the White Whale knows the truth. But knowing too much can be bad for you.
1. Prologue

**This Story contains heavy spoilers for Xenoblade Chronicles X. If you have not at least seen the ending of the game, then I would recommend you read elsewhere unless you don't care about spoilers. It could even be a different experience reading this before you know the plot. It's your choice. Just don't cry about spoilers to me (especially considering there was a warning before this in the description). One last thing, this is heavily OC based, (which you also should have known from the description) so don't expect to see Elma or Cross, especially as main characters. Do expect to see lots of Xenobade Chronicles X terminology, lore, and devices though. Regardless, I hope you'll enjoy.**

 _ **Prologue**_

Klaxons blared, echoing throughout empty hallways. I was flustered by my tardiness, it was an oddity to be certain. I made it to the escalator, moving up as quickly as I could. I spared a glance to see through the window which was to the right of the escalator. The first part of it appeared to be orderly, but the edges and sky told another story. Both were a sickly gray, with patches of brightness which were undoubtedly fires along with the shots from the war in the sky. Humanity had strung together to make the arcs but had made many thin strings in the process. These thoughts reminded me of my promise, and I was renewed with determination. I reached the top of the escalator, jumping off to maintain as much momentum as possible. The hallway felt like it lasted forever, but I ended up making it regardless. "This is really dangerous. For both of our spots." Sarah said. She was wearing the standard issue female blade formal uniform and was looking at me with an upset look. She stood in front of a piece of technology which looked very familiar to me. In fact, the entirety of the room did. Training certainly did engrave messages in. "Look at it this way. Me knowing would have already cost me. But they aren't aware, and I made a promise. This won't hurt anybody." I told her, walking towards the chair. "I've never seen you act like this before. You being flippant to authority is shocking. But not necessarily bad." She began to operate the panel behind her, as I sat at the chair. "So, what is the plan currently? Any changes?" "No. Gas gets disabled, you take one of the heavily damaged Skells. Then, you do your business." "I'll still get on board, correct?" "Definitely." "They really are liars then." A capsule fell over me, and I closed my eyes. I could smell a gas, before my head was suddenly down and the gas had disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. My neck was also suddenly sore. I opened my eyes to be greeted by the capsule raised. I stood up and walked over to Sarah, who was still at the station. "I put a numbing agent on your neck. That's where they inserted from. I covered it up, but it's only temporary." "That'll do. Thanks Sarah." I turned to the exit and ran to the hangar. The sirens had yet to stop, but at least I had been boarded. The elevator that led to the hangar was only a short distance from the transfer station I had used. As it went down I looked around. Steel comprised the majority of the elevator, while thirty small buttons represented the floors. The buttons were made of small LEDs, with clear plastic covering them. The steel was shiny enough that I could see my reflection in the door. As I was analyzing myself the doors parted. The hangar certainly held the most people I had seen yet in the base. There were perhaps two dozen personnel in total, though they were spread throughout a four-kilometer square space. Skells were the only equipment we kept very heavily damaged versions of. These models were kept close to the elevator I had exited through. I ran to them, spotting an Inferno, missing its right arm and currently in vehicle mode. There was nobody nearby and so I boarded it. I began to drive off with it, before hearing another alarm joining the choir of them and guns beginning to shoot. However, it took very little time for me to be clear of them. I made it out of the compound, breaking the gate, and I entered the streets. They were filled with people, who were now flooding towards the opening I had made. The former city had terrible roads and the houses were crumbling apart. I had heard tales that the arcs had fully destroyed the economy of the cities they mimicked and were within. Supposedly if there wasn't one around, people had better living quality. Though that was mostly applicable to non-arc members. Who were people I was meeting. I drove to where we were supposed to meet, parking in a back alley so they couldn't see what I had driven in. I noticed there was another Skell there, also in poor quality. I wondered if someone was here from the White Whale. I pushed that thought aside and removed my blade wear, leaving me in casual clothes. Exiting the Skell, I walked around to the front of the building I had parked behind. Waiting for me there were my four friends. Jolene, Seth, Marvin, and Nectare. "Daniel! We were wondering when you would show up!" Marvin shouted over the chaos. "I wouldn't miss seeing the end of the world with you guys!" This garnered a light chuckle from them. I stood beside Seth and Nectare, turning my head towards the sky. I could barely see the silhouettes of the war that was for Earth in the sky. "There's the arcs going!" Jolene said. I turned my head towards the arc that I was aboard and saw that it was in fact leaving. "Goodbye everyone." I told them, turning towards them all. "Was nice knowing you all." Nectare added. "Bye, I guess." Jolene half mumbled. "Bye." Seth remarked. "Bye-bye!" Marvin shouted. I took one last glance to the sky, seeing the death of the Earth approaching. The last thing I saw was Nectare, looking at me with a look of knowing. It appeared as if she knew my plan. Was she the other Skell driver? With that last question on Earth, my body died with it.

 **Thanks for reading! Next chapter will be far more focused on Xenoblade Chronicles X, so if you felt this chapter was lacking in that aspect, that will definitely change by the next one.**


	2. Chapter 1

_**Chapter 1**_

After I had smelled the gas, it had already disappeared. I also was suddenly in a standing position. I opened my eyes and was greeted by a spotlight in my face. I closed my eyes and raised my arms to cover my face. The spotlight turned off and a voice said to me, "You can open your eyes now." With that statement, I lowered my arms and raised my eyelids. I could now see something beyond a blinding light. I saw a man wearing Valor level Sakuraba Industries heavy wear. Standing, or rather on one knee behind him was a Skell, specifically a US0230 Urban ST. I realized that I must've been inside a Lifepod, considering that I could see bits of metal in my peripheral vision. My Lifepod appeared to be in some rocky land, that felt incredibly hot. "We're going to need to move quickly. It's a miracle you're alive." The man turned away from me and began to walk to the Skell. I exited my Lifepod and walked behind him. "Who are you? Also, where are we?" I asked him. "I am Kyle, apart of the Pathfinders. Now board the Skell." He told me, motioning towards the Skell which now had its cockpit open. I walked up the boarding ramp and saw that this Skell had two seats in it. I sat down in the one that appeared to be the passenger seat. Kyle sat in the other one and began to pilot it. I could see that he began to walk forward, moving faster and faster. We passed by several pools of lava along with several creatures, some of which were small when compared to the Skell, others were massive in comparison. It then jumped, and I heard what sounded like thrusters activating. The Skell then began to fly. "What?" I asked him, fully flabbergasted. "A 13-year-old developed this module perhaps a week ago. Now all Skells have this along with this sweet song." "What song?" "You can't hear it?" "No." "I guess your Mimeosome must have its music disabled. Tech should be able to fix it." We then passed by some flying cylinder, with electricity arcing around them. "You never told me where we are." "Oh yeah. We're in Cauldros, on the planet Mira. We managed to escape Earth, but one of the alien forces that destroyed it, which are called the Ganglion, pursued us and shot down the White Whale. We don't know where the Lifehold is, we lost many Lifepods and are still finding them, like yours. We currently reside in New L.A., and it's currently in the region of Primordia. I just hope we can get our real bodies back soon." That statement reminded of the truth. I had no idea if I had met my friends or not, and I never would. Hopefully I had. "Is there anything else I should know about?" "BLADE was formed, they have 8 divsions, one of them is the Pathfinders which I'm apart of. Basically, it's just the defensive force for New L.A. If you're interested in joining, you'll have to go to BLADE Tower." "Where's that?" "New L.A. in the industrial zone. Don't worry about it though. You'll get a tour of the city and then you'll know where everything is." I looked down and saw that now we were in some sort of land which was extremely white. "Where are we now?" "Now we're above Sylvalum. Next, we'll be above the ocean, then Primordia, and finally New L.A." He was right, and a minute later we were above the ocean. Now that I was left to my own devices, my mind was reminded of the promise. It was so surreal to imagine that I would never know if I had done it or not. All it made me think of was that now they were two parts to me. One who had died with Earth and the one that was here. It made sense why they wouldn't want anybody to know that our bodies weren't coming with us. Then people would do what I did, and everyone would become two people. Having two selves was a terrible feeling. It made it seem like I was now inhuman, because I now had a wholly separate existence to me, one that I would never know. I had lost memories I could never retrieve. That felt so wrong. The blue changed to green, like how I had changed myself into two parts. One that went slightly more from the split and another that would go far farther. Being divided was the worst feeling I had experienced yet. And this was just my first hour on Mira.


	3. Chapter 2

_**Chapter 2**_

As the Skell arrived into New L.A. it began to spiral down into what I recognized as the Skell Hangar. The city was mostly the same, though I couldn't help but notice the large ship that now was above the unfinished district. Touching down on the ground, the Skell changed into vehicle mode. It began to lose speed, before stopping inside a parking spot. Kyle started to get out and I followed suit. I realized I hadn't been smelling my surroundings very much and my first smell was a combination of metal and oil. The smell of the White Whale. I noticed Kyle jogging off to a group of people, whom he began to interact with. I decided against following him, opting to stand beside the Skell instead. Looking around I noticed the flight packs on the other Skells. There was a moderate amount of people around, but what really caught my eye was the other species milling about. One that I could see was round and fluffy, another was short and amphibian like, the other that I could see was tall and spindly. They appeared to be working alongside everyone, doing jobs that humans were doing. It made sense that aliens would be around here, though I wouldn't have expected there to be this many humanoid types. I took another scan of the room and noticed Kyle waving at me, beckoning me forth. I sprinted to him, taking full advantage of my Mimeosome. Skidding to a halt in front of him, I saw that there was only one person left with him. "Daniel, this is Bridget. She'll give you a tour of the facilities. Bye now!" He told me, before running back to his Skell. I quickly sized her up. She was wearing some sort of armour I didn't recognize, though it was oddly open. Her face was in an expression one might have when around people they liked. Blonde hair, blue eyes, and a pale complexion. "Well, Daniel I'm assuming you got a good look of the facilities when you came in. I've also heard that you're fairly familiar with New L.A. So, what do you want to see?" She asked me, her arms crossed over her chest. "Well that ship is fairly interesting, but a tour of the administrative district is what I'd like first." "Good news then. The way to the ship is in this district." She walked towards the elevator, calling it down. "What's your division?" I asked her. "I'm a Curator. I basically deal with everyday problems. Now what was your job before we left Earth?" "I was intelligence." "Just intelligence? I doubt that." The elevator arrived and we both boarded, Bridget activating it. "Why are you saying you doubt that?" "Well, because I know who you are. Smart of you to not use your name in the reports, _Libra_." "Good deductive skills. Now what did Libra do?" "Designed the entirety of New L.A." The lie popped up. "Correct." The elevator made it and we got off. "I'm assuming you wish to see the changes here, correct?" I nodded my head in response. "Well then, there's only a few matters then. The main tower," she said, pointing at it, "is now know as BLADE tower. It has numbers on it's display at the front. They represent how much time we have left on the lifehold before we lose our bodies." My immediate thought after that was that our bodies had already been lost, but I neglected to mention it. We then turned to our right, entering an alley full of operatives. "This is armory alley. It sells gear for BLADE operatives, have a terminal to invest in AMs, and a knickknack store that has a machine which can add augments onto armour." "What are AMs?" "Arm manufactures. Like Sakuraba Industries and Grenada Galactic Group. Though now there's a total of 7 now." "I'm assuming this is exclusive to BLADE operatives?" "The entirety of the administrative district is." We exited out the armour, appearing in front of the BLADE tower. We just walked past it, heading towards a landing strip. "I'm certain you remember the scale of New L.A. It certainly has expanded though, so take a look at it. We reached the end of it and I could see the city now. I hadn't seen it in person and not through some sort of lens before, so it was very breathtaking. The industrial, commercial, and residential district, along with the ship were huge compared to me. I turned around and looked at the tower. Sure enough, there was a display full of numbers right on the front. I saw to the left of the front was some sort of claw. "What's that for?" She turned around and looked at where I was facing. "That's the teleporter to the ship." "Speaking of, where did the ship come from?" "You know those aliens that look like amphibians? Well they are called the Ma-non and that's their ship. Those tall and thin creatures, who are know as Orphean live their as well. Those fluffy creatures are known as Nopon and live in the commercial district in a parking lot." "O-kay." "Do you want to go visit the Ma-non ship?" "No. I'd rather say hi to the leader of New L.A."


	4. Chapter 3

**Woops. I know I haven't posted a new story in a long time, or anything but I've been really busy elsewhere. Anyway, enjoy!**

 _ **Chapter 3**_

"Well, then you'd have to talk to Director General Chausson." "I'm afraid that may be harder than you think. I hope you'll be able to settle for me." A voice told us. I turned around and found the captain of the White Whale, Nagi. We both saluted to him, with Bridget adding, "Secretary Nagi. I was not expecting to see you here. I was just showing him around sir." I immediately realized that positions must've changed around here, more so than I had assumed. "Is this the one found in Cauldros." "Yes sir." "You know, you were incredibly lucky to have survived out there as long as you did. Cauldros is the main staging ground for the Ganglion after all. So, are you planning to join BLADE?" "I suppose so sir. There's nothing for me to do loafing around here." "What was your position before?" "I was intelligence." "Intelligence is something we could always use help with. In fact, I have perhaps the perfect job for you. But first, do you know about the divisions?" "Very little. But I'd like to join whichever one would help me the most with this job you say you have for me." "I would recommend the pathfinders then. Now, before I can assign you this task, we need to see your capabilities. Bridget, give him the run down. The mission will be 409a." "409a? For a first-time recruit." "Indeed. We need to make sure he is capable. Goodbye for now. I wish you luck out there." The secretary turned and walked towards the tower. "Well, now we have some things to discuss." She started to walk back towards Armory Alley. "I find it odd that he came up to us." "Well, maybe he knew who you were. You are after all Libra." She stopped in front of an orange terminal. She scanned some sort of rectangular thing above the controller and then stepped back. "Chose whatever you like it's on me." I went up to the panel and selected the first option. I was then met with a ton more after that. Dual Guns, Shields, Gatling Guns, Headgear, etc. I realized that I would probably need to choose a ranged weapon, melee weapon, and all the armour slots. I began to ponder the best options for weapons, before settling on Dual Guns and a Photon Saber. For both along with the armour I choose the first option, neglecting to even look at the names for them. I figured that those would be both be the cheapest and easiest to use. The way they were given to me was interesting. They were all dropped out from a small compartment in the base of the terminal, so by the end I had a nice pile. As I exited out of the terminal and gathered my items, I could hear running. I turned around and was met by Bridget jogging up to me. "Sorry, I had to go get some things. Are you done?" "Yes." "Okay, then let's head to the barracks and you can get changed." She headed towards the barracks and I followed her with all my purchases. The elevator was there already, and we went to floor 2. The barracks were exactly as I remembered them. "Okay, you can go get changed in the bedroom. Nobody else is here right now anyway." I walked up the ramp and turned to the door. I pressed it open and started to change. I noticed the lack of my Dual Guns as I was clipping the hilt to my belt. I quickly gathered up my belongings and exited. I found her sitting on one of the couches and I sat on the one opposite. She was currently holding a device that looked like it was the same type that she had used on the terminal. "So, I can't find my guns." "Oh, you don't know about the new tech. Weapons are able to be changed between each other by pressing the switch button on them. This was done to save space and to allow people to carry weapons together that they otherwise couldn't. The tech was finished during the flight." I tried as she suggested and pressed the button that didn't appear to be a trigger for the beam. Sure enough, the hilt disappeared, and I felt the weight of two guns on my back. I pulled them off and there they were. I tried to press the button on them and then I was holding the hilt again. I clipped it on my belt as it was lighter than the two guns. "Well, now that you know that, we need to go over your BLADE info. Your name is Daniel and you're a pathfinder in intelligence. Now you need to choose your class." "Just give me whatever one fits the best." She started to tap on the device and then held it out to me. "Congratulations, you're now a Galactic Knight and an official BLADE member. You can always change your class and division by the way, though it's frowned upon for the latter. Now, see if you can find your first quest." I took it from her and started to scan over it. The display at the moment showed many words, but quest stood out to me. I tapped it and I was taken to a list. There was only one item on it: 409a. I tapped it and saw the following: Take down [calculating]. I looked on as it tried to calculate my fate.


End file.
